When selling your house, condo or other property, you have two options: do business with a real estate broker or try and go it alone. With all the readily available websites aimed at selling owners, you may very well ask yourself why you would need to team up with a real estate broker. The answer is simple: any real estate transaction is intrinsically complicated, and only more so as time goes on, with conducting evaluations, negotiations, buyer qualification and inspections, filling out legal documents, discussing inclusions and exclusions, and selecting an occupancy date are but a few of a great many factors.

As real estate professionals trained under a rigorous program, real estate brokers have the necessary skills to easily guide you through each of these steps. Their know-how, contact network, knowledge of the ins and outs of any transactions and familiarity with the art of evaluating and negotiating, make them the ideal partner to sell your house, condo or other property.

According to a recent study by the OACIQ, the perception of saving money, the impression that a property will sell itself and confidence in one's own ability are the main reasons driving owners to sell their property themselves. However, sellers that choose to live by these beliefs lose out on the advantages of doing business with a real estate broker and forget that the broker is the most skilled and impartial when it comes to getting the best price under the best conditions.

The seller also forgets that most buyers are already calling upon the services of a real estate broker and will therefore not be interested in properties sold by their owner, as their broker will not assist them in the buying process. Similarly, accessing Quebec's real estate broker through the inter-agency registration service (Centris, MLS) enables owners to gain a greater deal of visibility among buyers and other real estate brokers working for them. Furthermore, taking charge of each step of the entire transaction, including property visits, negotiations and contract signing, is a process that calls for extensive experience and hours of work. By doing business with a real estate broker, owners free themselves of these tasks, thereby saving time, avoiding mistakes and maintaining their peace of mind.